The present invention relates to an improvement in the design of a putter used in the game of golf which will enable the golfer to take full advantage of the many benefits of using alternative putting methods including a straight forward putting stroke. There are currently no known putters, which make alternative putting methods, including the straight forward putting stroke attractive to a large number of golfers with various putting styles and of varying stature.
While the game of golf has seen numerous evolutions in both the areas of club design and methods of executing the stroke, there have been very few instances where an evolution of both equipment and method have occurred at the same time. The present invention is in effect is one of those rare occasions. While the present invention addresses only the equipment aspect of this new putting concept, the method of using this invention is of equal importance.
Over the history of the game of golf, experts and professionals have often differed in their opinions as to what constitutes the best style of putting stroke. There does currently appear to be general consensus among professionals today that the best putting stroke is a pendulum type stroke which uses the golfer's large shoulder muscles rather than the golfer's wrists and hands. It is the intent and design of this invention to develop a putter which allows the golfer to emulate a true pendulum putting stroke to the greatest extent possible under the current United States Golf Association (USGA) rules of golf.
Several prior art putters show adjustable configurations for putters for example the Phillips U.S. Pat. No. 5,348,295 and the Ruvang U.S. Pat. No. 5,533,730 both show golf putters which are adjustable in configuration and weight. However, neither of these putters allow a user to adjust for a whole new putting style but are rather used to fine tune an existing style of putting.
From the forgoing discussion it can be seen that it would be advantageous to provide a putter that would enable a golfer to strike a golf ball on the putting green with a putting stroke that imitates a pure pendulum motion as much as possible under the rules of the USGA. Additionally, it can be seen that it would be advantageous to provide a putter that can utilize this type of stroke while allowing the golfer vary his or her stance as desired for a particular play style.